Paul Graziano, Democratic candidate for the 19th Council District, more than doubled his contributions from his first disclosure period - $8,760.00 - which ended on March 11th. The new total - $19,493.33 - includes $14,843.00, or 76.1% of the total raised that is eligible for matching public funds, which is less than $600 from the maximum allowed per election cycle. So far, the total amount raised, including public matching funds to be disbursed in June, is $108,552.33. All contributions have been raised without conducting an official fundraiser. "I have focused on the needs of northeastern Queens for almost 20 years, including the groundbreaking downzonings of almost every neighborhood in the 19th Council District which I designed," Graziano stated. "Now the residents and members of civic and homeowners associations throughout the district are supporting my grassroots candidacy, which focuses intensely on the preservation of our neighborhoods, quality-of-life issues and maintaining high educational standards for our schools in the entirety of the 19th Council District." As part of his commitment to protecting northeastern Queens neighborhoods and running a highly ethical political campaign for City Council, Graziano has taken very few contributions from any individuals in real estate, development, finance, law or lobbying and/or other special interests and specific industries (there are a few contributors who are in these specific fields; however, in every case, it is completely incidental as they are officers or members of various civic/homeowner associations or non-profit organizations). This sets Graziano apart from his opponents, who have taken the majority of their campaign contributions from those industries who are typically looking for access to city and state government. "With the public crisis in confidence in our political process based on corruption and the pay-to-play culture that has dominated politics in the city and state government for decades," Graziano stated, "I believe that support for a high standard of ethics reform is mandatory, especially in light of the recent arrest of Councilmember Halloran on bribery and corruption charges that have seriously harmed our own Council District." Importantly, of 137 Contributors to Graziano's campaign, 130, or 95.6%, gave donations of $175 or less. "Small donations make up the backbone of my campaign," Graziano said, "because they represent the actual people who live in the district and other civic association leaders in and around Queens, not those individuals who would like to exploit our beautiful neighborhoods for their own personal gain. These leaders and friends who have supported me have helped my campaign more than double my initial contribution total to just shy of $20,000, and almost max out on eligible matching public funds." This also extends to the number of contributors from the 19th Council District to Graziano's campaign: 96 out of 137, or 69.3% (one contributor is listed as not being in the district, but this is for bookkeeping purposes only). Their monetary contributions were $10,850, or 55.7% of all contributions to the campaign. As mentioned previously, Graziano's candidacy for City Council is based upon the support from residents of the 19th Council District and beyond who are deeply involved in their neighborhoods and representative civic and homeowner associations as well as other local non-profit organizations that advocate for their respective communities. Below is a partial list of leaders of these communities who are personally supporting Graziano in his race for City Council (civic and homeowners associations and most other non-profit organizations as a general rule do not endorse candidates) as shown through their monetary contributions to his candidacy:

"As far as I'm concerned, Councilman Halloran's decision to not seek re-election is an appropriate end to an inappropriate career in politics. Unfortunately, many elected officials break promises and the public trust with their constituents; Councilman Halloran's bad behavior goes much, much deeper and has affected not only the ability of his Council office to function in responding to the 19th District's needs, but also the other actions that he has taken during his tenure in office that have frankly been hostile to our neighborhoods.

I can't say that I'm surprised or upset with Dan's decision, as both a resident of the 19th Council District as well as a candidate for City Council. This is clearly not the end of all of this insanity and there may be more collateral damage that will affect other potential candidates along the way." - Paul Graziano